Former Super Eagles defender Ifeanyi Udeze has blasted the performance of Nigeria’s home-based national team after their 1–0 loss to Senegal in the opening game of CHAN 2025, accusing the players of prioritising personal ambitions over team success, Footynaija.com reports.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles B, making their return to the African Nations Championship after six years, kicked off their campaign on a disappointing note, losing narrowly to Senegal at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar.
The home-based side showed some promise in possession but lacked cohesion and failed to create clear-cut chances, eventually falling to a 75th-minute goal by Christian Gomis.
Reacting to the defeat, Udeze voiced his frustration over the team’s lack of unity and tactical discipline, suggesting that too many players were using the tournament as a showcase for personal transfers rather than focusing on national glory.
“Eric Chelle must now play the role of a psychologist. He needs to tell the players to play as a team and stop playing individual football because this is a tournament,” Udeze stated while speaking on Brila FM’s No Holds Barred programme.
“They see this tournament as an opportunity to sell themselves to foreign clubs,” he added.
The result leaves Nigeria fourth in Group D behind Senegal and Congo, who drew with Sudan. Head coach Eric Chelle now faces immediate pressure to get results in the remaining group games to avoid an early exit from the competition.
“I saw a lot of mistakes, and I believe Eric Chelle also saw the mistakes, but I still have hope they will come out of the group. Like I said, they need to play more as a team and stop playing individual football,” Udeze said.